Category: 2017

BAKU: Azerbaijan increasing pressure on OSCE Minsk Group – expert

Alex Jidarian
Trend, Azerbaijan

15:33 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 22

By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:

Azerbaijan increases pressure on the OSCE Minsk Group member countries, including Russia, Sergey Markov, Russian president’s confidant, member of Russian Civic Chamber, told Trend July 22.

He was commenting on the July 21 meeting of presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia, Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin, in Sochi.

“Russia is simply more active than other OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries,” Markov said, adding the other member countries, France and the US, do nothing.

He noted that when the meeting is not announced, it means that the sides plan to have a brief meeting due to the need to quickly solve certain issues.

After the killing of civilians in the Alkhanli village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district, the pressure of public opinion in Azerbaijan is so high, that the country’s leadership should communicate this to the mediators and take certain measures if the negotiations remain frozen, Markov said.

On July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the country’s Fuzuli district. As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

“The leadership of Azerbaijan asks the Russian leadership to exert pressure on the leadership of Armenia in order to bring it back to the negotiating table,” said Markov.

It is known that the Armenian leadership is not against negotiations, but is against profound talks, he added.

“And President Ilham Aliyev wants meaningful progress. I believe that the issues on how this progress will happen and when the next negotiations will take place were discussed and agreed on by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan.”

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Armenia will participate in NATO Noble Partner military exercises in Georgia, while Azerbaijan will not

Jhanna Virabian
Aravot, Armenia

Agenda.Ge. Georgia’s Minister of Defence Levan Izoria announced today that the large-scale Noble Partner 2017 exercises will start on July 30, with the involvement of five NATO member and three ally countries.

The drills, which focus on improving defence and attack skills, will involve more than 2,800 soldiers.

The soldiers come from US, UK, Germany, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia.

Georgia will be represented by one hundred infantry soldiers and a platoon.

The Noble Partner 2017 is a part of drills of the European Command in the Black Sea region, which is being held on the territory of seven countries.

Noble Partner 2017 will continue Saber Guardian in Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary and Sea Breeze in Ukraine.

The Noble Partner exercises will run in Georgia until August 13, on the Vaziani training ground.

For the first time German armoured personnel carrier- Boxer will be involved in the exercise.

American tanks Abrams, infantry vehicles -Bradley and Striker, as well as C-130 American military aircraft will also be included in the training.

Established in 2015, the Noble Partner exercise was initially founded to train service members from the Georgian Armed Forces and NATO member states for the NATO Response Force (NRF) unit and to improve the Georgian troops’ interoperability with NATO units.

Last year’s drills involved around 1,300 service members including 650 US, 500 Georgian and 150 UK personnel at the Vaziani training ground.

Adversary uses “SPIKE” missile

Emil Karabekian
A1 Plus, Armenia

  • 14:02 | July 22,2017 | Official

According to the summery of the DA operative data, in the first semester of 2017 the adversary violated the ceasefire regime on the Line of Contact between the opposing forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan more than 9000 times, firing more than 121000 shots towards the Armenian positions.

Besides the rifle weapons, in the abovementioned period the Azerbaijani armed forces also used “SPIKE” anti-tank controllable missile (3 shells), TR-107 multiple rocket launchers (5 shells), D-30 and D-44 cannons (244 shells), 60 mm, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars (1373 shells), different types of grenade launchers (250 shells).

In the first semester of 2017 the Azerbaijani special units initiated several subversive penetration attempts, which were timely spotted by the DA units and the adversary was thrown back, sustaining losses. To note the subversive penetration attempt initiated by the Azerbaijani special units on February 25 in the eastern direction, when the adversary completely failed and leaving 5 dead bodies in the territory close to the Armenian front line, returned to their initial positions.

The DA vanguard units in the first 6 months of 2017 continued to dictate the situation on the front line and carry out their military duty.

Armen Ashotyan: issue of the sale of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan is one of the most complicated relations in the agenda between Moscow and Yerevan

Ara Felekian
ArmInfo, Armenia

ArmInfo.The issue of sale of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan is one of the most complicated relations in the agenda between Moscow and Yerevan. This was stated  at a press conference by the deputy chairman of the ruling Republican Party, head of the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs Armen Ashotyan.

He stressed that this issue requires a solution, but it is not  subject to public debate.

“This issue should receive its decision, as the Russian side  substantiates that Moscow, while selling weapons to Azerbaijan,  Moscow solves certain economic and strategic tasks, is not  convincing,” Ashotyan summed up.

Earlier, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan also referred to the  topic, saying that Russia’s sale of arms to Azerbaijan is the most  painful aspect of the Armenian-Russian friendship, Armenian-Russian  military cooperation, and bilateral relations in general. the head of the state said. 

Azerbaijan opens fire towards Armenian village

Kalantarian Kevo
PanArmenian, Armenia

– 16:02 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Azerbaijani troops opened fire towards the village of Barekamavan in Armenia‘s Tavush province on Friday, July 21, between 11:00pm and 01:00am.

Village chef Jonik Mikayelyan said random shooting was registered during those two hours, Panorama.am reports.

“No casualties were registered, no material losses were sustained,” Mikayelyan said, adding that the shooting was the first in the past year.

9,000 truce violations by Azerbaijan registered in first half of 2017

Chalian Meline
PanArmenian, Armenia

– 12:59 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Around 9,000 ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan were registered on the contact line with Nagorno Karabakh in the first half of 2017.

Azeri troops, in particular, fired more than 121,000 shots in the reporting period.

Besides firearms, the Azerbaijani armed forces also employed SPIKE missiles, TR-107 rocket launchers, D-30 and D-44 cannons, 60-, 82- and 120-mm mortars, as well as various caliber grenade launchers.

Also, special troops of Azerbaijan’s army initiated several subversive attacks in the first six months of 2017, which were all timely thwarted by the frontline positions of the Karabakh armed forces.

During one such episode on February 25, five of Azerbaijani soldiers died and their bodies were left in an area near the frontline as those who survived retreated back to their positions.

Throughout January-June, Karabakh armed forces had the upper hand on the contact line and continued protecting their positions.

75% of Artsakh population backed incumbent leader – pollster

Emil Lazarian
Tert, Armenia

14:41 • 21.07.17

Three fourths of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) backed incumbent President Bako Sahakyan in the July 19 election, according to Aharon Adibekyan, the president of the Yerevan-based public opinion center Sociometer.

At a news conference on Friday, the pollster cited the results of a recent survey which he said revealed only a 10%-12% support for Vitaly Balasanyan, an Artsakh war veteran who is currently a parliament member.

Adibekyan highlighted the progress in the country over the past 10 years since Sahakyan’s first election as president. 

“The 10-year period saw conspicuous positive developments:  the population growth by 11,000, the GDP increase, and the implementation of special programs aimed at assisting newly formed families and boosting the birth rate,” he added. 

Adibekyan said he doesn’t think that a radical opposition would ever work in the country.

“Thus. the election by the National Assembly largely reflects the people’s will,” he noted.

“Karabakh is in a unique state, so it wouldn’t possibly be right to apply democratic standards to them,” the pollster added.

Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, a politician also attending the news conference, agreed to the positive evaluations, adding that Sahakyan “enjoys an absolute respect in not only Artsakh but also Armenia”.

As for the international community’s possible attitude, the politician said he thinks that their efforts should more strongly focus on Azerbaijan as a major target.

“The April four-day war introduced certain corrections into the government system, proofreading it to an extent,” he said, hailing Sahakyan’s re-election for the third, interim term.

VivaCell-MTS Customer Support Contact Center has modernized

Emil Lazarian
iTel.am  / Mediamax, Armenia


VivaCell-MTS Customer Support Contact Center has modernized                               
VivaCell-MTS Customer Support Contact Center, also known as the “111” service, has been modernized and replenished with new technological solutions. A most comfortable work environment has been created to increase the quality of the work and leisure of Customer Support Contact Center employees.

General and individual automatic LED lighting systems have been installed in the renovated and expanded Customer Support Contact Center that allows the employees to adjust the level of lighting on their desks according to their individual preferences. A new air conditioning system has been installed. Innovative solutions have been applied to provide full acoustic insulation of the Customer Support Contact Center interior.

“The technological upgrade of the Customer Support Contact Center is aimed at boosting the customer service quality, increasing the capacity of the office to house more employees and creating a more comfortable work environment for the staff. VivaCell-MTS continuously works on upgrading its operational systems. Being on the forefront of technology requires constant efforts from on all sections of the Company. This commitment lies at the heart of VivaCell-MTS success and competitive advantage for over 11 years,” said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

The Customer Support Contact Center is one of the key units of the Company carrying out a number of functions: promptly responding to customers’ inquiries and complaints, informing about the services and products rendered by the Company, giving technical advice, and, if necessary, making house calls for the elderly subscribers and subscribers with disabilities. In 2017, from January until May, Customer Support Contact Center handled 1,573,961 customer calls, 5521 electronic letters, 5871 online chat sessions and 502 written applications.

The renovated Customer Support Contact Center, equipped with state-of-the-art devices, now houses more operators than before. Taking into account the busy working schedule of the employees, comfortable conditions have been created for their leisure time: the lounge room and the kitchen have been renovated and refurnished. The Customer Support Contact Center is also adjusted to the needs of employees with disabilities.

The modernization process of the Contact Center, aimed at ensuring high service quality and increasing the capacity to provide necessary information to the subscribers, will be continued.

VivaCell-MTS modernized Customer Support Contact Center, previously having the experience, is ready to provide paid distant customer services to small, medium-sized and large enterprises (commercial insourcing).

The first who have been exposed to the innovations introduced at VivaCell-MTS Contact Center were Facebook fans following the official business page of the company. They learned about the Call Center before its official opening and presented their questions to the Company in direct transmission mode, during Facebook Live session by VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

By the way, employees of VivaCell-MTS Customer Support Contact Center, unlike Service Center employees, are not obliged to wear a uniform. Through this kind of approach towards its employees, the Company takes care of their comfort and preferences, by taking into account their heavy shift-based working schedule and the fact that communication with customers is over the phone. 

Turkey banned the use of the expression "Armenian Genocide" and other "incorrect" sentencing

Badalian Vardan
ArmInfo, Armenia

ArmInfo.The Turkish parliament passed a law forbidding deputies to use the _expression_ “Armenian Genocide” and other “wrong” wording about the events of 1915.

The document also prohibits the use of the phrase “Iraqi Kurdistan.”  If these words are used, the Turkish MPs will be fined 12,000 lire ($  3,500), the Turkish TV channel T24 reports.